


Beneath the Juniper Tree

by ascoolsuchasi



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Brothers' Grim, Community: xmen_firstkink, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-20
Updated: 2011-10-20
Packaged: 2017-10-24 19:32:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/267057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ascoolsuchasi/pseuds/ascoolsuchasi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moral of the story is greed and jealousy don't bode well for the soul and murder will weigh you down until you die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath the Juniper Tree

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS: blood, underage, incest, cannibalism, death, abuse, rebirth, murder, desecration of corpses, homophobia, dehumanizing thoughts, self harm, revenge, and non graphic rape (non con).
> 
> Written for the prompt here (http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/5215.html?thread=5670495#t5670495), in which the lovely acidqueen31 asked for the Brothers' Grimm The Juniper Tree (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm047.html) to be adapted for Charles and Erik.

 

Long ago, thousands of years ago, there was a very rich man and his rich wife. They loved each other dearly and undoubtably, even though the two never bore a child. They wished and prayed and were dutiful towards each other but still, their wishes came unanswered. They did not conceive. You see, the very rich man’s rich wife was infertile, or maybe it was the very rich man. It does not matter, their wishes were unanswered and they did not conceive.

By their house, out in their courtyard, was a large and old juniper tree. One day in winter, the rich wife sat on one of its’ roots. She sat there in the cold and peeled a peach. While peeling the peach, she became careless and cut her finger and her blood dripped down onto the snow. 

The rich wife made a startled noise, then sighed and watched her blood seep into the white, white snow. She was very unhappy and had one morbid thought. _If only I had a child as red as blood and white as snow._ She said this thought aloud and it calmed her sullen mood. She walked back to her house and to her very rich husband, contented and sure that she would have a child. The rich wife told her very rich husband this and together the waited.

A month went by. It no longer snowed and everything was melting. There was no child.

So they waited longer.

Two months went by. Everything was green and there was still no child.

The very rich man and his rich wife held onto each other at night, said their prayers, and waited again.

Three months passed. Winter became spring and all the flowers were in bloom. There was no child.

So they held onto each other at night and prayed harder.

The woods surrounding their house had grown thicker with plants and with animals. Four months had passed and there is still no child.

So they held on to each other, even when the sun was shining. They pray harder and wished even more. _Soon_ , the rich wife thought, _soon._

The fifth month passed and the rich wife walked to the large and old juniper tree. She sat down on one of its’ roots and waited. The juniper tree, she noted, smelt so sweet and her heart swelled with joy. She slipped off the root and onto her knees. Still, there was no child.

The very rich man and his rich wife prayed all the harder.

As the sixth month ended, the fruit of the juniper tree was thick and large. Both, the very rich man and his rich wife, were stilled into silence. There was no child.

They prayed harder still and held each other tighter at night.

After the seventh month, the very rich man went to the juniper tree and picked all the juniper berries that he could reach. Under the juniper tree, he ate all the berries greedily. Soon, he became very, very sick. And soon after that, he called his rich wife to him and said to her, “My sweet Edie, if I die, bury me beneath the juniper tree.” 

There still was no child.

So the two prayed harder and wished all the more.

The eighth month came to an end and the very rich man was happy and contented with his life. Then his rich wife had a child. _As white as snow and red as blood_ , the rich wife thought as she showed the child to her very rich husband. When he saw it, he became so overwhelmingly happy his heart stopped and he died.

The rich wife, now a very rich widow, buried her very rich, dead husband under the juniper tree and cried bitterly and howled guttural screams at the moon. But there was a child. As white as snow and red as blood and beautiful. She named the child Erik, after her late, rich husband.

***

Time passes and the very rich widow, Edie, remarries. Her second husband is named Sebastian, and now he is very rich. Sebastian and Edie hold each other at night and they pray and they wish. They don’t have to wait long, because a few months later, they have another son. _As white as snow and blue as sky,_ Edie thinks to herself as she holds the newborn. _As white as snow and red as blood_ as she looks at her firstborn. They name their son Charles because it means manly, and that’s what he will be.

Edie loves both her children very, very much. 

Erik loves his little brother very, very much.

Sebastian loves _his_ son very, very much. Sebastian does not love Edie’s son. No, not at all.

Charles is too young to know the concept of love.

***

More time passes and now Erik is fourteen and nearly a man and Charles is eleven and still a boy and they share a bond that no one can match. Eddie is forty-seven and Sebastian is fifty-three and both are terribly old for their age and they share a bond that only widows and widowers can share.

Sebastian has grown bitter and cold and the _Evil One_ has come to inhabit his body. When he sees _her_ son, he can do nothing but grow in fury, in anger, and in violence, and soon he will lash out.

Edie has grown sullen but she still loves her sons and she still loves her second husband. She still goes out to the large and old juniper tree and sits on its’ root and visits her very rich and dead husband, because she loves him as well.

***

Erik is seventeen and sporting bruises under his clothes and Charles is fourteen and not   nearly close to being the man that Edie and Sebastian want him to be. The two have grown close in the past three years; they are closer than any other two brothers can be. They lay out by the juniper tree and hold each other tight at night and they pray and they wish for Sebastian to stop chaining Erik out back and for Edie to talk to Charles again.

One night, when the sun is setting, with purples and reds and pinks and blues splayed across the sky and Edie is away at the market and Sebastian is inside the house, Erik and Charles sit out beneath the large and old juniper tree, with Charles on Erik’s lap. Erik’s mouth at Charles’ neck and Charles’ hands spread across Erik’s chest. And they’re rocking against each other. 

They don’t remember when it started, or who initiated it- if it was ever a thing to be initiated- but they both agree that it doesn’t matter. Not when it feels as natural as breathing. Not when they fit together like yin and yang.

And they had become careless after being _them_ \- two, whole, and the same- for so long.

From the den of the house, Sebastian hears Erik’s and Charles’ giggling and the sounds of... _more._ The _Evil One_ takes over and he grows furious over the sounds. _His_ son should not anywhere near _her_ son.

He stomps his way out the door and stops when he sees them under the juniper tree.

***

Sebastian’s hands are on Charles’ shoulders and pulling him off _her_ son with too much force. Charles falls to the ground and Sebastian is taking Erik away, pulling him to the house by the hair on his head. He says to _her_ son, “Stay away from _my_ son.”

Charles stands and follows his father back into the house, calling after him, “Father don’t! Father you’re hurting him! Stop! Father! Stop!”

***

Sebastian walks to his room and throws Erik onto the bed. He turns and shuts the door and locks it. He walks towards the bed and Erik and scowls. The thought _Dirty disgusting thing_ passes through his mind.

***

Charles hits his fists against the door, crying out, “Father! Father! Stop! Erik! Please! Stop father! You are hurting him! Father!” 

He cries out so loud and for so long his voice cracks and dies in his throat. His fists hit against the door for so long that they crack and bleed.

***

Sebastian unlocks his room’s door, the _Evil One_ long gone from his body, and stares down at his son and Charles looks past him into the room and sees Erik crumpled and laying on the bed so quiet and so still and with eyes wide open.

“Father?” Charles asks quietly.

Sebastian is silent and walks past his son. 

When he’s down the hallway, he calls out to his son, “My son, I told you to stay away from him. Now, clean up.” and thinks _You could have prevented this. Disgusting boy._ and walks out of his house heading to the lake to clean up.

***

Charles walks slowly to Erik and kneels on the floor before him. He calls out his name and touches his arm and doesn’t get an answer. He looks over Erik’s body, eyes trailing down the bruises and cuts and scratches and stillness. He stops at the blood caked on and between Erik’s thighs. He stands and kisses Erik’s forehead and his cheeks and his mouth and his tears fall, leaving trails against Erik’s pale cheeks, and whispers, “I’ll be back. I’ll be back. I promise, brother. I’ll be back. I’ll be back and I’m going to clean you up. And then we can talk and we can run away. And I’ll be back. I promise. I love you.”

***

Sebastian is back home and he watches Charles in his room and is disgusted. 

“My son,” he calls out, “I told you to clean up.”

Charles faces him and Sebastian notes his eyes are as red as blood and says, “I did father.”

Sebastian’s looks at the body on the bed. “No, you did not.” He says. “The body is still here.”

“Father,” Charles says as he starts to cry, “I did! I did clean up and Erik won’t talk. He won’t move. And he’s so cold. What do I do?”

Sebastian walks to his son and shakes his head. “Erik is gone and the body needs to be gone and your mother will be home soon. We will cook him into stew.”

And Charles cries and cries and wishes that Erik was with him, holding him, loving him.

***

Sebastian pulls the body to the kitchen and takes out one of his sharp, sharp knives. 

“Son!” He calls out and has to wait a few minutes before Charles comes. “Help me. Set up the pot.”

But Charles does not. He stands in the doorway to the kitchen and cries and cries and wishes for Erik to be by his side and wishes for his father to stop. 

Sebastian pulls out a pot and sets it on the stove. He grabs his son’s arm and pulls him to the pot and tells him, “Son, watch it while I cut up the meat.”

Charles nods and cries more and his tears fall into the pot and Sebastian decides that now they don’t need salt.

***

Edie comes home shortly thereafter. Sebastian takes her hand at the door and walks her to the table and acts like a good and very rich husband. He walks into the kitchen and brings her some of the stew and settles into the seat across from her with a bowl, as well. Charles sits between them and looks at his, sniffling.

“Where is Erik?” Edie asks and stirs her stew.

Charles cries freely and no matter the look that Sebastian gave him, he cannot stop.

Sebastian smiles at his very rich wife and says, “Your memory must be failing, wife. He went to your brother’s.”

Edie nods her head and says, “Hmm...of course. When will he be back?”

“He is staying for a while.” Sebastian says and takes a spoon full of stew. “He asked me if he could stay six weeks. Your brother will take care of him.”

Edie looks down at her bowl, feeling unhappy and says, “Oh. This isn’t right. I can’t remember. He should have said goodbye to me.” She takes a mouthful of stew and looks to Charles.

“Charles,” she says, “why are you so upset? Why are you crying? Erik will certainly be back.”

Charles cries even more and thinks, _You’re eating him. Erik. You’re eating him and he’ll never come back. And father says I can’t tell you and you’re eating and I will die if I tell you. And mother stop, please stop, you’re eating Erik._  

Edie looks at her very rich husband and says, “Sebastian, this is delicious. Can I have more?” 

And the more she wanted, the more her very rich husband gave her and the more their son cried and cried until he choked on his snot and tears and couldn’t breathe and left the table.

***

Charles went to his room and stared at his bed and thought of Erik and how his bones lay underneath the kitchen sink. He goes to his chest of clothes and pulls out a cardigan. He rubs at the cotton of it and thinks, _You were his favourite._ and walks to the kitchen and gathers Erik’s bones and carries them in the cardigan and goes out of the house and walks towards to the old and large juniper tree, crying tears that are salty and wet and tinted red like blood.

He lays out Erik’s bones and the cardigan underneath the juniper tree, where Erik’s first father is buried and sniffles. He looks down at the bones and stops crying. He rubs at his red, red cheeks and wipes at his red, red eyes and says, “Goodbye Erik.” and feels slightly better.

***

The old and large juniper tree begins to move. The branches spread apart and collide back into each other, like the juniper tree was clapping. A mist rises from the tree and in the centre of the mist, there was a bright burning fire, and from the fire flies a beautiful bird and it sings wonderfully as it flies up, up high in the sky. The mist dissipates and the fire dies out and the juniper tree is just as it was before and Erik’s bones and Charles’ cardigan are gone. Charles stares for a moment and feels better, like his brother was still with him and he walks back into the house and to his room.

***

The beautiful bird flies and flies until it reaches a goldsmith’s workshop and sings on its’ stoop:

My father slew me, 

My mother ate me, 

My brother Charles,

Gathered my bones,

Tied them in his cardigan,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,

Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make.

The goldsmith hears the bird and stops working on the gold chain in his hands. As he walks outside, he loses a shoe but he continues walking with one shoe, one slipper until he sees the bird. He wears his apron and holds the gold chain in one hand and tongs in the other. The sun shines brightly and the goldsmith is blinded momentarily, but still he walks on. He stops in front of the bird and says, “Bird, how beautifully you sing. Sing that piece again for me.”

“No,” says the bird, “I do not sing twice for nothing. Give me that gold chain and I will sing again for you.”

The goldsmith nods and hands over the chain and says, “Here, it’s for you. Now sing that song again for me.”

The bird takes the chain in its’ right claw and sings again:

My father slew me, 

My mother ate me, 

My brother Charles,

Gathered my bones,

Tied them in his cardigan,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,

Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make.

The bird flies away and flies far off to a shoemaker and sits on the roof of the shop and sings:

My father slew me, 

My mother ate me, 

My brother Charles,

Gathered my bones,

Tied them in his cardigan,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,

Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make.

The shoemaker hears the bird’s song and stops working on the shoes walks outside and looks up at the roof. He shields his eyes from the bright, bright sun and says, “Bird, how beautifully you sing.” 

Then calls out to his wife, “Wife, come outside, there is a bird out here. Come and look. He certainly can sing.” And calls out to his daughter and his daughter’s children and the journeyman and his apprentice and the maid. “Come outside. A bird, look he sings so beautifully.” And they all come out and shield their eyes from the sun and stare at the bird on the roof and they all see how beautiful the bird is with its’ red and green feathers and golden neck and shining star eyes.

“Bird,” the shoemaker calls out, “sing that song again.”

“No,” says the bird, “I do not sing twice for nothing. Give me something and I will sing again.”

The shoemaker turns to his wife and says, “Go into the shop and grab the pair of shoes from the top shelf.” and kissed her cheek and she goes in and comes out a few minutes later with a pair of red shoes.

The shoemaker takes the shoes and offers them to the bird and says, “There, bird. Now, sing the piece again?”

The bird flies down and takes the shoes into its’ left claw and sings:

My father slew me, 

My mother ate me, 

My brother Charles,

Gathered my bones,

Tied them in his cardigan,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,

Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make.

The bird flies away and flies far and flies to the mill that is never silent and goes clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. In the mill that is never silent sat twenty miller’s apprentices cutting and chiseling a large and grey stone that goes chip-chop, chip-chop, chip-chop and sounds throughout the mill. The bird fly down to an old and large tree in front of the mill and sings.

 _My father slew me,_ and one miller stops working and turns his head. 

 _My mother ate me,_ and two millers stop working and turn their heads.

 _My brother Charles,_ and four millers stop working and turn their heads.

 _Gathered my bones, Tied them in his cardigan,_ and only eight still work, going clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack.

 _Laid them beneath,_ and only five still work, going chip-chop, chip-chop, chip-chop.

 _The juniper tree,_ and only one is working, the stone not making much noise.

 _Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make,_ and the last one stops and turns his head to the bird and says, “Bird, how beautifully you sing. Sing again.”

“No,” says the bird, “I do not sing for nothing. Give me that millstone, and I will sing again.”

The miller’s apprentice nods and says, “Yes, if it belongs only to me.”

The other miller’s apprentices join in and say, “Yes, if you sing again, you can have it.”

The twenty miller’s apprentices lift up the millstone and the bird flies down and sticks it neck through the centre and wears it like a necklace and sings:

My father slew me, 

My mother ate me, 

My brother Charles,

Gathered my bones,

Tied them in his cardigan,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,

Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make.

The bird flies far, far away and flies to the house of the very rich widow and her very rich husband.

***

Edie and Sebastian and Charles are sitting at the table. 

Edie is looking out the window with a dreamy expression. _Erik will be back soon- the stew was good- so good- Sebastian should make more- soon so soon._

Sebastian is looking out the window with an apprehensive expression. _Just know he’s coming- nonono- it’s done and gone and I have succeeded._

Charles is looking down at the table and is crying and crying and snot and spit dribble down his face. _Miss him- erikerikerik- love you- miss you- can’t tell, never tell- Erik._

Edie smiles wide and says, “I feel so happy. I am content.”

Sebastian glares at Edie and says, “Not I. I feel like a bad storm is coming.”

And Charles just cries and cries.

The bird flies to the large and old juniper tree and lands on one of its’ branches and Edie says, “Oh, I am so truly happy. The sun is shinning and it is so beautiful outside, and I feel like I’m gong to see an old acquaintance again.”

Sebastian shakes his head and looks out the window again and says, “Not I wife. A storm is coming and I am so scared. My teeth are chattering and I feel like there is a fire burning in my veins.”

Charles just cries and cries and cries into a handkerchief that has gone clear with tears.

The bird sings:

 _My father slew me,_ and Sebastian shuts his eyes and pretends not to hear, but the fire in his veins is burning bright and there is a roaring in his ears and his eyes burns and feel like they are melting and there is lightening in his mind.

 _My mother ate me,_ and Edie grins and says, “That bird sings so beautifully and the sun is shining and warm.”

 _My brother Charles,_ and Charles lays his head on his knees and cries and cries when his mother says, “I am going out. I must see this bird up close.”

And cries some more when his father says, “Don’t go wife, I feel as if this house is on fire and shaking.”

But Edie goes out and Charles cries and Sebastian scratches at his skin until he bleeds.

  
_Gathered my bones,_   


  
_Tied them in his cardigan,_   


  
_Laid them beneath the juniper tree,_   


  
_Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make._   


Edie walks to the juniper tree and sees the bird and the bird drops the gold chain and Edie smiles and the chain feels right around her neck.

She walks back into the house and says, “Just look at what the bird dropped for me. A beautiful gold chain. Look at how nice it looks.”

Sebastian is terrified and shakes and shakes so much that he falls to the ground and scratches at his arms and legs.

The bird sings again:

 _My father slew me_ , and Sebastian stands and yells, “I wish I was one thousand fathoms beneath the earth and could not hear this.”

 _My mother ate me_ , and Sebastian falls over and stills like he was dead.

 _My brother Charles,_ and Charles looks up and stops crying and says, “I will go outside and see the bird.” and walks to the juniper tree.

 _Gathered my bones, Tied them in his cardigan,_ and Charles catches the pair of shoes the bird drops for him.

 _Laid them beneath the juniper tree, Tweet, tweet what a beautiful bird I make._ and Charles smiles and puts them on and dances and leaps his way back to the house. He says, “I was so sad and I cried and cried but the bird gave me a pair of shoes and now I am happy. That is a splendid bird, it makes me feels so happy.”

“No!” Sebastian yells and stands again and his hair stands at all ends and looks like the flames of the fire in his veins. “The world is ending and I can feel it. I will go outside and see if it makes me feel better!”

The bird flies and flies from the juniper tree and to the house.

Sebastian walks out of the house and-

Crash!

The bird drops the millstone on Sebastian’s head and crushes him to death and his blood seeps into the ground.

Edie and Charles hear his scream and walk outside.

Smoke, flame, and fire rise from the place that Sebastian lays and when the fire dies out, Erik is standing there and is smiling and he says, “Hello mother. Hello brother.”

“You’re back.” Edie says to him. “How is my brother?”

Erik nods and says, “He is good.” and takes Charles and Edie by their hands and they are very happy and very content and they go into the house and sit at the table.

Edie is looking out the window with a dreamy expression. _He’s back- the juniper tree looks beautiful today- the gold chain is pretty._

Charles is looking at Erik with a dreamy expression. _You’re back- you’re back- you’re back- erikerikerik- I love you._

Erik is looking at Charles with a dreamy expression. _I’m back- I’m here- lovelovelove- Charles._

END

 


End file.
